FRINGE REVIEW – Others by Paper Birds

Who is she? And how would you go about finding out? By asking questions? by reading her words? by listening to her voice? By interpreting the tilt of her head or the flick of her wrist? By imagining her world?
‘Others’ is an interpretation of noises from the other side of the wall, of words from the other side of the continent, of the face on the other side of the TV screen.
It is the culmination of a project for which Paper Birds asked ‘other’ women to reveal themselves through answering a series of set questions. Utilising verbatim the responses they received, the company have woven their enquiry with the answers and their possible interpretation into this delightful and accomplished piece of theatre. Concerned with the act of questioning as well as the act of understanding they invite us to listen in on their dialogue with an Iranian intellectual, a life-sentence prisoner and a scrutinised celebrity.
Not only are the themes compelling and intriguing but the handling of the material is as considered as the deft movement of the performers across the clean white stage, as subtle as their costumes in nude tones and florals which are at once matching and individual, as delicate as the emotive music and as versatile and expressive as the perfectly conceived yet simple set.
This piece is a sophisticated discussion and dissection from which we leave wishing to participate in ourselves. How would our answers to the same questions reveal our difference or similarity to each other, how would you interpret my answers to create an image of who I am? And who would that image be?
As one theatre lover to an-Other – See this show.